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The following foods are the things that you should incorporate to your diet in order to speed up your weight loss results. Trust me, your diet is the responsible for 80% of the results you are going to get, so you’d better follow these tips and give them a try.

Milk, Yogurt, and Milk Alternatives

3 portions per day

1 portion of milk = 1 cup

1 portion of yogurt = ¾ cup

Yogurt, plain, 1% or 0% fat

Milk, 1% or 0% fat

Substitute soy or almond milk, as desired

Like milk, yogurt is an excellent source of protein, but dairy products are generally very high in saturated fats. Adults should choose low-fat or zero-fat dairy products. It is so much healthier for you to drink 1% or skim milk and eat yogurt that is 1% or 0% fat rather than the higher-fat alternatives. If what you are looking for is a step by step guide then you should take a look at this review at www.putnamhospital.org of one of the most highly rated system in the market.

The reason plain yogurt is so important is that the yogurt sold with added fruit is mainly sugar.

For example, a popular low-fat yogurt cup with added fruit sold at a coffee chain has 18 grams of sugar. This equates to 4.5 teaspoons of sugar.

I highly recommend that you buy plain, 0%, or 1% yogurt and add your own handful of fruit for flavor.

Plain yogurt is ideal for a snack. If you’re not keen on its slightly sour taste, mix some fresh fruit and/or almonds into it, or sprinkle some cinnamon on it. You may think you’re doing yourself a favor when you opt for yogurt with fruit already added, but these products are usually made with syrup, jelly, and/or artificial sweeteners. (More on this in chapter 5, on sugar.)

Choose Low or Zero-fat Dairy Products

You might explore soymilk and almond milk for nutritional variety and, for those with a lactose intolerance, as an alternative to milk.

Your three daily dairy portions can be any mix of milk, yogurt, and alternatives. Also, remember to count the milk you put in your coffee or tea, or in your cereal. Similarly, on days when you have cheese, you’ll need to remember to cut your milk and milk alternatives down to just two portions.

Cheese – Use Caution

3 portions per week

1 portion = 1.5oz (42.5g)

If choosing low-fat cheese, be cautious

Count cheese included in other dishes

Although we have all grown up thinking that cheese is a healthy food, cheese is very high in saturated fats. While some weight loss programs call for no dairy products at all, the Health First program allows you to have cheese, but limited to three portions per week.

Exercise caution with low-fat cheese.

Don’t be tempted to eat much more than an allowable portion just because it is low fat.

Be conscientious in keeping track of how much cheese you’re eating, as it is extremely easy to exceed your weekly limit. Cheese is often added to sandwiches, pasta, and salads, where even small amounts can add up quickly. Always include in your weekly count the cheese in cheeseburgers, subs, quiches, and omelets, and on pizzas, and anything au gratin or with cream cheese. As with meat, you must remind yourself every day of your remaining weekly cheese budget allowance.

Remember, a day with a full cheese portion should be a day with one fewer milk and milk alternative.

Eggs – Any Way You Like ’em!

4 whole eggs per week

Count eggs in dishes and baked goods

Eggs are a great source of protein. They also contain cholesterol, which is why we were urged for years to significantly limit our consumption of them. However, after many years of studies, it has been found that saturated fats, not cholesterol, are the main culprit in elevating our blood cholesterol.

So the bottom line on eggs? With the proper weight loss program, you can safely have four whole eggs per week. However, if you already have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or heart disease, check with your doctor first before following this recommendation.

At home, prepare eggs any way you like, but be mindful of added fat. When frying, use just a tiny amount of heart-healthy oil. Avoid egg salad with lots of mayonnaise, which is often the way it is served in restaurants. If you must have mayonnaise, choose the low-fat kind and use it sparingly.

Remember that baked goods contain eggs, as do custards and many cream dishes. You should be avoiding these saturated fatty foods while you’re trying to lose weight. Keep in mind that these foods often contain lots of sugar as well.

One other word of caution: Restaurant omelets can be made with four eggs, which is your whole week’s portion of eggs! When ordering an omelet at a restaurant, specify how many eggs you wish it to be made from and ask to have the cooking oil used sparingly. While you’re at it, ask to have it without cheese and ask for extra sautéed vegetables instead.

The best, and most sustainable, action starts with the mind, not the body. That’s why I devote this chapter to helping you use your mind in a way that will make the rest of my program more logical and actionable.

What does the word “diet” bring to your mind? Most likely …

Hunger

Deprivation

Fatigue

Calories

Dessert (none)

Loneliness

Alcohol (none)

Punishment

Exhaustion

Embarrassment

Failure

Nuisance

Most of us feel we have neither the physical nor the mental energy to go on a strict diet, and we secretly resent the time it takes to think about food. We like to eat for pleasure as well as to satisfy our hunger. Having to plan our meals with forethought is punishment for most of us.

All these negative feelings jeopardize the likelihood that we will achieve permanent weight loss. It doesn’t have to be that way. Let me introduce you to a new way of thinking about eating and dieting that shouldn’t summon all these nasty associations. It hinges on being mindful, making healthy choices, and budgeting your portions as you do your money.

Geoff is a sixty-nine-year-old who has had type 2 diabetes for the past twelve years. He needed to lose 50 to 60 pounds, as he was tired of carrying around so much weight and wanted to better control his diabetes with a lifestyle change. He hoped to decrease some of the medication he was on and didn’t want to take insulin. “I just decided that I needed to take charge of my health,” he says.

Geoff has now lost 46 pounds on the Health First program and has been able to stop one of his diabetes medications as his blood sugar is in much better control. As he puts it:

I feel so much more alive with all this weight off. I sleep so much better now, and I believe the cardio exercise that I’m doing four days a week has also helped my sleep. I like the concept of choosing healthy options instead of thinking about restricting what I can eat. The other day I had to carry something that weighed 40 pounds – I could not believe that I used to carry that much weight around all the time. I know I will reach my goal weight and keep it off. Choosing smaller portions, staying focused, being physically active daily, and exercising are the keys. I’m now much less fearful of developing kidney failure as a result of my diabetes, as my blood sugar is so much better since I have lost all this weight. This program really does work.

Mindfulness: Concentrate on What You’re Eating

Eating is something we all have to do. We just do too much of it, often without even being aware of what we’re doing. We scarcely notice the bowl of potato chips eaten while watching a movie. Or the bag of corn chips that vanishes in a few minutes.

Patients who have successfully lost weight on my program tell me that the single most important thing they learned was to be fully focused on what they were doing with food. They learned to focus on what they were eating, when they were eating, and why they were eating at a particular time. Being mindful of food, and your relationship to it, is an extremely valuable tool in losing weight.

Be mindful of what you’re eating. Focus your attention on the portion you’ve taken, the health value of your selections, and the appropriateness of your choice in relation to your long-term health goals.

Bring your full attention to food whenever you’re around it – whether you’re preparing food, ordering food, opening the cupboard or fridge, going out for dinner, or visiting friends and family.

After a very short time, this mindfulness will become second nature to you. It isn’t all that difficult.

Those with peanut or shellfish allergies must be aware of food as a matter of life and death. For those who simply want to lose weight, what first seems like a task easily becomes second nature.

The more attention you pay to what you’re eating, the healthier your choices become.

You have a potentially fatal shellfish allergy. You’re at a buffet. How will you eat?

By focusing on every food choice.

Most of us eat too quickly and without much thought as to what we’re putting in our mouths. A critical component of the Health First program is learning to become focused on what you eat. When you pay more attention to your food, you’ll eat less, make healthier choices, eat smaller portions, and lose weight.

There’s no doubt that we’re living in a society that contributes to becoming overweight or obese.

Everywhere we turn, there is an abundance of easily available food poised to make us unhealthy and increase our risk of lifestyle diseases. For example, many of us have unhealthy foods in our cupboards, co-workers may bring sweets to share at work, convenience stores are filled with a huge variety of unhealthy snack foods, and fast food restaurants are busier than ever, serving foods high in saturated fats and sugars in portions that continue to grow. Food surrounds us, and rarely is convenient food good for us.

These trends may seem impossible to resist, but you are capable of fighting back, losing weight, and becoming healthier. Always think before you eat: Is there a healthier choice?

Think Before You Eat

Preventing mindless eating and staying focused around food will get you a long way toward reaching your weight-loss goals. Later, I’ll provide you with some tips on managing at restaurants and social functions.

Contemporary Portions Are Gigantic

Portion creep is a major cause of obesity around the world. Food portions are double those common in the 1950s and, in some cases, even three times as large. You can see how the portion size on the left (1950s) compares to present day portion sizes on the right.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has assembled these portion creep facts in a video called Portion Distortion.